America is Living Through a National Disgrace

“The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?” – Psalm 11:3

America is living through a national disgrace.

In the 1950’s, the “witch hunt” trials of Senator Joseph McCarthy left a sour taste in the mouths of Americans. With no evidence, he vilified good people, resulting in the loss of jobs, careers, and reputations.

America is better than McCarthyism. Our legal system, based on some basic principles, operates on the presupposition of a person being considered innocent until proven guilty.

What we witnessed last week in the hearing of Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a national disgrace.

Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina summed up it succinctly in his passionate, now famous, statement: “This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.”

America is better than this. Grass-roots Americans will not stand for this. The ones who work in the tire stores, cut people’s hair, raise children, serve clients, pastor congregations, and work in the manufacturing plant. This is not how Americans treat other people.

Talk-show host Mike Gallagher said this morning, "This is the kind of stuff that infuriates good and decent people."

Christians and conservatives often don't want to rock the boat and speak out publicly. They don't like to fight. However, through the Bible, God regularly called his servants to speak directly to the culture, the national and political leaders, and the religious groups of the day.  Much of the message of the major and minor prophets as well as the New Testament contain such confrontations .

Keeping a Basic Dignity vs. Controlling the Court

A basic dignity presupposes our legal system, rooted in ancient legal codes, including the one found in the Old Testament. People have a basic dignity because they are created in God’s image. We should treat one another as those made in that image, what the Reformers called the Imago Dei.  A person is not considered guilty until substantial evidence comes forth to prove his guilt. In both the Old and New Testaments, an accusation must be substantiated with two to three eyewitnesses.

For 1000’s of years, legal systems have functioned with the burden of proof being on the accuser. You need 2-3 substantial witnesses - not just emotion and singular testimony. Suddenly, we are seeing a violent, emotional shift trying to make the burden of proof be on the accused. It is the pendulum swinging too far as a result of the #MeToo movement.

The process matters greatly.

As Dennis Prager recently shared, if Judge Kavanaugh has to prove his innocence here, it is the end of legal justice as we know it. The precedent would have massive, negative repercussions. If so, I fear for the world my children will experience.

But this has never been about Kavanaugh. It is about controlling the court.

In Tony Perkins' Washington Update of September 27, he wrote, “What we do know without a shadow of a doubt is this: the Left must have the court in order to advance their agenda in America. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) admitted it. They couldn’t get Congress or state legislatures to redefine marriage or impose abortion on demand. They had to go to the courts. They can’t get open borders in this country. They have to go to the courts. That’s what this entire smear campaign is about. This is not -- and never has been -- about Brett Kavanaugh. It’s about the shift that will begin to take place when a committed constitutionalist replaces Kennedy."

I told my family last week that if Kavanaugh’s nomination is dismantled because of this last-minute, but highly planned accusation with no evidence or witnesses, no man is safe in America. No lawyer, doctor, pastor, schoolteacher, principal, coach, Troopmaster, Sunday School teacher, youth group leader, or man in any leadership position. Anyone who dislikes them, disagrees with them, or has a bone to pick with them can accuse them of anything and upset their life and career.

The circus surrounding this procedure - from the disruptions on day one of the hearings to Senator Ted Cruz and his wife being run out of a restaurant to the McCarthyism-like spirit of last week -  disgust many Americans. Their behavior is revolting.

As former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich shared online this week, “The left-wing Democrats are prepared for rule or ruin. If they have to break the Senate rules, they will. If they have to smear Judge Kavanaugh, they will. If they have to assassinate his character, they will. And any Senator who stands up to them risks being trapped in an elevator, driven out of a restaurant, harassed in public, because they will rule or ruin. 

Do we want to become an America dominated by those kind of people?  A group set on imposing on us their radical values. The Left is showing the ugly face of totalitarianism.  They will do whatever they have to, they will break any rule they have to, they will smear any person they have to.”

Leftism Marching Through America

Their actions should not surprise students of history. The travesty before our eyes is the result of Leftism taking over the Democratic Party. Leftism is rooted in Marxism and socialism. It is an ideology that leaves no room for opposition or dissent. It destroys those with whom it disagrees without any code of ethics.

Ask Russell Vought. During the 2017 confirmation hearing for the deputy White House budget director, Sen. Bernie Sanders questioned Vought on his theological beliefs about Muslims. When Vought responded with a traditional, orthodox Christian answer, citing “the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation,” Sen. Sanders replied, “I would simply say, Mr. Chairman, that this nominee is really not someone who this country is supposed to be about.” 

There you go. Leftist intolerance on full display.

Sanders’ position should shock and disgust decent Americans. One of the main two contenders for the nominee for President of the United States in one our main two political parties the last election cycle believes that a person who holds to traditional, orthodox Christian theology should have no place serving our country. And that a theological test is required in order to serve as a White House budget director.

This is not classic liberalism. And it is certainly not traditional conservativism. It is Leftism. And Leftism is trying to take over the Democratic Party – and America.

Leftism is the greatest threat to freedom, to religion, to our country's morality, and to America. Historically, as Dennis Prager points out, everything the Left touches, it ruins. Just look at the results of political Leftism in the 20th century: Communism, totalitarianism, Marxism, and Nazism. 

For the average American, this is no longer about partisan politics. This is about preserving our legal system, protecting our freedom, and keeping the age-old principle of treating other people – even those with whom we disagree –with respect and dignity.

Pray for Your Pastor(s)

The Kavanaugh Travesty is About Losing Power

Excellent article by Del Duduit . . .

"The Kavanaugh travesty is about losing power.

It’s never been about an alleged sexual assault 36 years ago. It’s never been about a yearbook or drinking beer as a teenager. And it’s not about another investigation by the FBI.

It’s about losing power.

The Democrats have moved their witch hunt this Halloween to the United States Supreme Court’s nomination process."

Newt Gingrich provides another great commentary, The Cultural Civil War Continues: Results vs. Resistance.

"We are living through a historic turning point in American history.

There are clear similarities between the Kavanaugh smearing and the investigation into so-called Russian collusion. It’s not about evidence. It’s not about facts. It’s not about what’s good for America. It’s about doing anything possible to support resistance against President Trump and the Republican agenda.

What the Democrats don’t realize is that the election this fall is not going to be about President Trump — it’s going to be about what kind of America we want to become.

This is a big, historic choice for American voters. They will have the opportunity to choose between Republican results and Democratic resistance.

Make no mistake: This is a big choice about what kind of country we are going to become, what kind of history we want to make, and whether we want results or resistance."

Read the entire article by Speaker Gingrich here.

The Incredible Power of Focus

Dr. Richard Blackaby shares some good insight on the importance of learning to focus . . .

"The human brain is amazingly complex and powerful yet enormously underutilized. It is commonly believed that humans, on average, use only a small percentage of their brain’s capacity. We marvel at geniuses like Albert Einstein. Scientists studied his brain after he died to determine how it functioned at such a high level. His brain was not unusually large; he just made better use of what he had. Some people are undoubtedly smarter than others. 

Yet it is not always the people with the highest IQ who experience the greatest success.

Our capacity for success lies not so much with our intelligence but with our focus. When we mobilize our power of thought toward a single issue for a prolonged time, we can achieve spectacular results.

Unfortunately, people’s thinking is often scattered. We flit from one thought to the next without ever settling on one topic long enough to fully analyze the situation. For some, a normal day is simply a series of distractions. They multitask, juggling numerous balls in the air without making substantial progress. Touching a dozen issues is not equal to tackling one."

Read the entire article here at Richard's blog.

Boys to Men

Our Dawson turned 13 this year, and he and I celebrated the passage from childhood to young manhood in a memorable way.  Read about it my and my wife's article Boys to Men in the October edition of HomeLife magazine.

Welcome, October!

America - The Proverbial Crossroads

The following statement came from Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council . . .

America remains at a proverbial crossroads where as a nation, with each election, we are faced with the choice of who we will be and what our children will become. The polls, as well as our own encounters, reveal that we are a divided nation. Divided not as much by ethnic, economic or educational factors as by worldview; the lenses through which we see and understand the world around us.

For the sake of America and the rest of the world that is impacted by the choices of this nation at this point in the history of the world, we must pray! But prayer is the beginning, not the end. We must vote. Fully informed and engaged in determining who will lead our nation and the policies that they will pursue. And we must stand. We must stand for the truth of God's word in every realm of society, "in season and out of season."

Please join hundreds of thousands of other Believers in taking The Pledge: the pledge to 1) Pray 2) Vote and 3) Stand.

Beginning Sunday, September 23, to Saturday, November 10 there will be seven weeks of focused prayer for the Family, Church, Business, Education, Entertainment, Media, and Government. Each week a prayer guide with scriptural reference will be provided for all who take The Pledge (Eph. 6:13)

To sign up to receive weekly prayer guides, take the pledge and join with other believers to pray, vote, and stand, click here.

Standing (Eph. 6:13),

Tony Perkins

President

Picture used by permission from Pixabay.

Kavanaugh at the Tip of the Smear

Tony Perkin's (Family Research Council) Washington Update from 09/27/2018 . . .

"What we do know without a shadow of a doubt is this: the Left must have the court in order to advance their agenda in America. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) admitted it. They couldn’t get Congress or state legislatures to redefine marriage or impose abortion on demand. They had to go to the courts. They can’t get open borders in this country. They have to go to the courts. That’s what this entire smear campaign is about. This is not -- and never has been -- about Brett Kavanaugh. It’s about the shift that will begin to take place when a committed constitutionalist replaces Kennedy."

Read the entire update here at the FRC.

Quote of the Day

“Bible verses, committed to memory and applied by the Holy Spirit, are the most powerful medications in the whole world. They’re a balm for sore hearts, an elixir for low spirits, an immunization for bad habits, a booster shot of high spirits, a pick-me-up for dreary days, and a stimulant for positive nerves.” 

– Robert Morgan, Mastering Life Before It's Too Late

The Best Articles I've Read on the Kavanaugh Hearing

If Not Judge Kavanaugh, then Who? by Newt Gingrich

Democrats, Kavanaugh, and ‘The End of Civilization’ by Andrew McCarthy

The Critical Lessons of the Kavanaugh Battle by Laura Ingraham

We Are Living Nineteen Eighty-Four by Victor Hanson

If Kavanaugh Nomination Goes Down, Then the Media Is 'Running the Country' on Tucker Carlson

The Charges Against Judge Kavanaugh Should Be Ignored by Dennis Prager

If Not Judge Kavanaugh, then Who?

Excellent commentary by Newt Gingrich.

"If not Judge Kavanaugh, then who? This is the question Republicans should ask themselves as they prepare for Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

If this decent human being, with an exemplary record as husband, father, friend, and judge can be smeared and maligned, who is going to be capable of surviving the Left’s ruthless dishonesty and willingness to lie, intimidate, and destroy?

If the Left can succeed in vilifying someone with Judge Kavanaugh’s integrity and record, they will be in a position to say to President Trump, 'nominate a moderate who is acceptable to us or we will smear your next nominee into rejection, too.' ”

Read the entire article at Gingrich Productions.


Also, hear his comments last night - the Kavanaugh hearing now is about "raw power."

“So desperate to keep the Supreme Court from becoming conservative, that they are prepared to lie, to smear, to be hysterical, to break Senate rules, to do whatever they have to do . . . .  Arthur Miller’s great play The Crucible about the Salem Witch Trials actually relates to Judge Kavanaugh and what he is being put through. It is almost like a medieval torture.  Somebody turns up 35 years later . . . . 

The fact is, this hearing is a farce. Now at what point is the burden of common sense on the accuser? And if it’s the burden of common sense, this hearing wouldn’t even be held. It’s only in the current hyper environment. . . . You have an entire effort by the totalitarian left.”  - Newt Gingrich

Quote of the Day

"There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God’s way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God."

- Oswald Chambers

Mary Poppins Returns!

What Should Be Done About the Kavanaugh Nomination?

Excellent perspective from the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer . . .

"An accuser has crawled out of the shadows to charge Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh with sexual assault. The accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, contends that 36 years ago Kavanaugh, in a drunken stupor, shut her in a room at a party and clumsily attempted to undress her. 

She contends that another male, apparently one Mark Judge, was also present and was also a participant. Kavanaugh and Judge have both categorically denied the event ever happened. Said Kavanaugh, 'I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.' 

Judge was equally emphatic. 'It’s just absolutely nuts. I never saw Brett act that way.' ”

Read the entire commentary here.

Also, read "Democrats, Kavanaugh, and 'The End of Civilization.' "

In this piece, Andrew McCarthy of The National Review shares historically the massive double standard Democrats have used in the nomination process of Supreme Court nominees . . . .

"President Trump says a lot of things that are not true and says a lot of other things that are foolish and unsavory. But his supporters are drawn to him, in large part, because he is willing to get into the muck with Democrats, fight them on their own demagogic terms — especially on things he cares about, like his nominees. They are tired of Republicans’ being caught flat-footed, continually underestimating how low Democrats are willing to go, how much they are willing to destroy reputations, institutions, and traditions in order to win."

Quote of the Day

"The greatest of all the secrets to personal resilience is learning to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. That means reminding ourselves of God's promises, rekindling a sense of His presence, and preaching to ourselves His stalwart truths in troubled times. Sometimes we can't afford to listen to ourselves; we have to preach to ourselves. We have to tell ourselves the truth and remind ourselves of God's Word." 

- Robert Morgan, "Mastering Life Before It's Too Late"

The Charges Against Judge Kavanaugh Should Be Ignored

"It is almost impossible to overstate the damage done to America’s moral compass by taking the charges leveled against Judge Brett Kavanaugh seriously.

It undermines foundational moral principles of any decent society.

Those who claim the charges against Judge Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford are important and worth investigating, and that they ultimately, if believed, invalidate his candidacy for the U.S. Supreme Court are stating that:

a) What a middle-aged adult did in high school is all we need to know to evaluate an individual’s character — even when his entire adult life has been impeccable."

Read the entire excellent commentary here by Dennis Prager. 

Also, read Cal Thomas' commentary this week on the Kavanaugh hearing, Desperation Tactics.

Praying for Victims of Natural Disasters

I wrote this article in September of 2017 following the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

News spread last week of Hurricane Harvey leaving devastation across Houston.  Watching news reports and video clips on social media leaves me feeling dazed and small.

I know I should pray.  I’ve been a Christian for decades and a pastor for twenty years.  I could share an impromptu sermon without any preparation on the why’s and how to’s of praying for people.

But when faced with mammoth disasters, I feel almost too small to pray.  The devastation looms like a Goliath taunting my puny prayers.  I hear the giant screaming, “Look at all of this trouble!  What good do you think your prayers will do?  Do you really think God will use your prayers to change any of this?”

Last week as I tried to pray concerning Hurricane Harvey and the struggling souls in Texas, an idea came to me. 

Praying with Specificity

For years, I’ve encouraged people to not pray general prayers but specific ones.  Don’t just pray “around the world” prayers like the following:

•         God, bless the missionaries.
•         God, be with us (He has already promised to be with His people, right?).
•         Lord, lead, guide, and direct them (aren't those three synonyms?).

Instead, I’ve encouraged praying people to be specific in their prayers:

•         Lord, give Susan wisdom as she considers what job to take.
•         Father, provide for Dan as he needs a car.
•         God, comfort Lucy as she struggles with the loss of her grandmother.
•         Lord, help our missionary friends the Campbells feel sense presence and feel cared    for as they may struggle with isolation and loneliness overseas.

One prayer offered with specificity may do more good than a dozen generalized ones that use religious language but don’t center on anything concrete.

A Pair of Shoelaces

The Bible teaches and illustrates God’s specificity in dealing with His children. Christianity boasts of a deity who contains awesome power (transcendence) yet personal closeness to people (immanence).

One Old Testament passage states, “the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles 16:9).  The Creator and Sustainer of the universe is able to zero in on one individual person of His creation and make himself know to that one.

V. Raymond Edman, President Emeritus of Wheaton University, illustrated this reality in his book Out of My Life: Lessons Learned from the Scriptures on the Presence of God with His Own.  He shares the story of evangelist Dr. Joe Evans in the early 1900’s. As a young man in Boston learning to trust God for his needs, he found himself without money and with a broken pair of shoelaces on his only pair of shoes.

Joe wondered, “Should one pray for a matter as small as shoelaces?  I think so, for the principle of faith is not concerned with quantity, but rather with quality.  The Lord Jesus taught that if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, then great things can happen.”

The young man asked God for more laces and then “went about the Lord’s work with the shoes and laces as they were and with a heart that was content to make known his requests to the Most High, with confidence that there is an Ear that hears, an Eye that sees, a Heart that is touched with our necessity, and a Hand that can be stretched forth in our behalf.”

One week later a letter arrived from a friend in California.  The writer wrote under a strong sense of compulsion, “Somehow or other, I cannot get away from the impression that I should include these shoelaces in my letter; and yet what a ridiculous thing for me to do!”

Joe Evans learned in that encounter with the Almighty that He sees, hears, and knows.  The Sovereign One saw His struggling servant in Boston and then touched one person in California, long before the days of instant communication, to nudge them to meet Joe’s need.

God uses the prayers of one individual to touch the life of another individual.

Burden in the Woods

Later in life, Joe took a day of prayer in the woods to commune with his Lord.  A great, and somewhat strange, burden came upon his heart to pray for the spiritual conversion of His Majesty, King Edward VII.  Dr. Edman wrote, “The burden of prayer increased throughout the day rather than diminishing or disappearing. . . .  With great agony of soul, he prayed earnestly for the salvation of the king until there came the release of full assurance that prayer had been answered.”

The following day word came across the ocean, “King Edward is dead.”  Joe Evans had not known of the king’s illness, nor had he ever met the king.

Years passed, and one day Joe ate dinner with Dr. J. Gregory Mantle of England, who told Joe the story of King Edward’s conversion.  Mantle asked, “Joe, did you know that Edward VII was saved on his deathbed?”

The king took ill and called a lord-in-waiting, ordering him to go to Paternoster Row and find a gospel tract titled The Sinner’s Friend given to him years earlier by his mother, Queen Victoria.  The servant, after much searching, found the booklet, “brought it to His Majesty, and upon reading it, King Edward VII made earnest repentance and received the Lord Jesus as his Savior.”

As God’s faithful servant Joe turned aside to meet with His Lord in the woods, the King of England lay on his deathbed.  The Great Intercessor moved upon Joe in the woods to intercede earnestly for the work of God in the life of the king, several thousand miles away.

God uses the prayers of one individual to touch the life of another individual.

One Family

As I struggled last week to know how to pray for the victims of the hurricane, it struck me, God can use my prayers to make a difference in the life of one person or one family. 

As my perspective changed, so did my praying.  I imagined one father, one couple, one family struggling with that storm.  I began asking, Father, meet the needs of one husband and father.  Help him to help his family.  Give them wisdom and help.  Get them to safety.  Provide for their needs.  Care for and comfort his wife and children.

As I prayed with that spirit the next several days, I pondered, “What if 1,000,000 praying believers asked God to use their prayers to touch one person or one family?  Might God use the prayers of each intercessor to reach across hundreds of miles and intervene specifically in 1,000,000 situations?”

Let’s do it, for God uses the prayers of one individual to touch the life of another individual.

Good Word on Anxiety

Pastor Alistair Begg shares a good word on anxiety 

from Matthew 6 at Dallas Theological Seminary

Watching Eyes

Lying next to each other in his bed, my nine-year-old Dawson says, “Daddy! Do you know that you have hair growing in your ears? You need to find a really good barber and have him take care of that.”

Thank you, son.

I already knew the inevitable fact that I do have hair growing in my ears.

Check out my entire article today on the Inspire a Fire website.

Beware the Mocker

“Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; whoever goes astray because of them is not wise.”  Proverbs 20:1

“Moderation is not the cure for the liquor problem. Becoming an alcoholic does not begin with the last drink, it always begins with the first. Just leave it alone.” – Adrian Rogers

Approximately 88,000 people in the USA die annually from alcohol-related deaths. Our country spent $249 billion related to alcohol misuse in 2010. In 2015, 27% of people 18 or older reported engaging in binge drinking in the past month. More than 10% of children live with at least one parent with an alcohol problem. 97,000 college students report experiencing sexual assault due to the influence of alcohol. And those are only the reported ones. Advertisers spend more than $750 million a year pushing alcohol.

Our former across-the-street neighbor lives a fairly miserable existence. A 50-year old alcoholic, he lives alone. His parents took away his vehicle several years ago. Living on disability with no job, he meticulously blows his driveway every morning – even in the winter – before beginning his daily drinking. He walks to the local gas station twice a day, coming home each time with a large case of beer.

As a pastor, I’ve witnessed numerous lives literally shipwrecked by the devastation of alcohol. I’ve listened to parents grieve the wasted mess of their alcoholic children’s lives. Never have I seen the use of alcohol make a life better. Though the Bible never explicitly forbids the use of alcohol, the Scriptures repeatedly speak of it with a negative context. Usually the Bible gives a warning as in today’s passage.

The Bible warns believers to live soberly and act wisely. We are to not only live for permissible actions but for beneficial ones. Jesus does not want his followers enslaved by habits or actions. We also can choose actions to benefit other people. I would not want a casual use of beer or wine to influence another person whose genetic or psychological bent may lead to addictive behavior. Let’s just leave it alone.

Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas: A Tale of Two Universes

As usual, the following is a spot-on cultural commentary by Speaker Newt Gingrich . . .

"Tuesday’s spectacle in the Senate would have made no sense seen from the world we lived in just a few decades ago.

On the first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, 70 people were arrested for disrupting the proceedings. There were more than 40 interruptions by Democratic Senators during the first hour of the hearing. . . .

This opening day hostility is a remarkable contrast to the world of 27 years ago, when now-Justice Clarence Thomas was being considered. The Thomas hearings were among the most personal and painful of modern Senate hearings. His personal integrity was challenged in a series of very emotional sessions. Thomas ultimately rose to the occasion, and in a brilliant, powerful, compelling speech compared what was happening to him to a “high-tech lynching.” As an African American, he said he understood the viciousness being used against him. His personal testimony turned the tide and convinced the Senate to approve him. He went on to become one of the two conservative pillars of the Court, along with late Justice Antonin Scalia."

Read the entire article here at Gingrich Productions.

America is at a Critical Stage

"In the end, though, today's spectacle says a lot more about the president's opponents than it does about Brett Kavanaugh. Make no mistake: This hearing is a snapshot of where America is and where we're headed if the Left has the reins of government. . . .

All of it validates what President Trump told evangelical leaders last week: the Left will stop at nothing. Just look at the violence of Antifa. The unhinged conduct of liberals should make it crystal clear what is not only at stake in the balance of the court -- but the future of our country. If the first day of Kavanaugh's hearing has shown us anything, it's that America is at a critical stage. If Christians or conservatives step back for just one moment, it could result in the loss -- not just of the fundamental freedoms reestablished over these last two years -- but the loss of the republic as we've known it."

Read the entire article, Unrest Assured on SCOTUS Pick, here at the Family Research  Council.

Left or Liberal?

Prager University does another great job of educating and informing!

Remember, leftism is an enemy of America, freedom, and Christianity.